Chief Greenbud remembers the first show that he ever played. “I was opening for a hip hop group in Memphis on Beale Street. I go out on stage as an older guy with an acoustic guitar, to sing some country-type songs about weed. There were three hundred people that came to see hip hop and, after I hit the punch line in the chorus, they exploded. Right then I knew if I could take this kind of crowd and win them over, there was something to this. Later, I played a biker rally, a hippie festival, and opened for the Psychopathic recording artist Anybody Killa in a one month timeframe. Those were three very different demographics I can assure you, but everybody liked it. Everybody gets high.”

But….why does he sing about it? Easy. He loves it, and knows that a lot of people do, too. “I’ve gotten a lot of emails from fans who say that my music is perfect to smoke to, and they can relate to the stories of the song that I sing. All of the subject matter is about cannabis. Some of the songs are funny. Some are about legalization and education, and some are just about marijuana itself. Styles that I have in my music really cross a broad range of genres – from folk, reggae, rock, country, and bluegrass – even a hip hop styled song or two. The common denominator is that all of the songs are about pot. Basically, if a person has smoked weed or knows someone who has, there’s a song I have written that they can identify with, I guarantee it.”

Fans come to hang and smoke with Chief Greenbud at his concert appearances all over the country, and also online – where he has over 1.7 million followers. He says that he appreciates the numbers, but it does place a responsibility on his shoulders. “I want to make sure that I’m representing myself, my family, and the cannabis loving community that I’m advocating the right message. I’m not trying to encourage people to smoke marijuana, I just want people to understand that it’s not this evil thing that it’s made out to be – with all the propaganda out there. Marijuana smokers get a bad rap. They’re called lazy and forgetful and even worse, are called non-productive members of society. I owned a technology company for many years and spent the last eight trading in the market. So, that doesn’t apply to all of us.”

His latest work is the thoughtfully-titled Chief Greenbud, Volume Four. He’s especially proud of the title, saying “I spent a lot of time coming up with that. We had multiple meetings in order to brainstorm what would be the perfect name representation of the songs we are putting together for this CD and I feel we captured it with the title,” he notes light-heartedly. “Plus, with the last CD being titled “There are several songs that I am pretty excited for people to hear. ‘Everybody Get High’ is an upbeat anthem kind of song that every stoner will be able to groove to and sing along with. ‘iBake’ is another tune that I think will resonate with people and then of course we have ‘4:19”, I can’t wait a minute!’

He has won eight “Marijuana Music Awards” and has received three “High Times Magazine Doobie Award” nominations – plus the adulation of his fans – which sometimes surprises even him.

At the end of the day, “Chief” hopes people will hear his message of legalization and identify with it. “I think marijuana should be legal. I enjoy smoking it. It’s ridiculous the way that people are being put in jail and being fined thousands of dollars, changing their lives forever. If President Obama had gotten in trouble for the marijuana that he smoked – or George Bush or Bill Clinton. I know those are talking points that a lot of people have used in the past, but it’s true. If you get caught with marijuana, your life can be severely affected. You might not be able to vote or get a decent job because you have a criminal record. That needs to change.”